Overview

• Perez Vargas, a Michelin-trained chef who joined the Pot Kiln in November 2019, was promoted to head chef before tensions arose.
• Staffing cuts in April 2022 doubled his workload and set the stage for the August row over an “unreasonable” number of orders.
• During the confrontation, owner Francis Rockcliff allegedly threatened to call the Home Office and made derogatory remarks about Mexicans and the chef’s sexual orientation.
• The Reading employment tribunal ruled those remarks constituted harassment under race and sexual orientation protections, rejecting Rockcliff’s denials of discriminatory intent.
• Judge Andrew Gumbiti-Zimuto awarded Perez Vargas £20,444.24 in compensation for unfair dismissal and harassment.